Category Archives: Pizza

I’m actually cleansing as I write this post and have been craving pizza for about a week and a half. So this pizza picture is killing me! I remember it like it was yesterday. Hot, cheesy, sweet, and full of bread… I think my stomach just growled.

But really. Purgatory Pizza is so out of the way for me. It’s this tiny shop in a random part of downtown. One day, I just so happen to be on that side of town with some vegan friends. I was determined to get it. Luckily, my friends were up for a slice of the good stuff. The pizza here reminds me of that greasy stuff you would get as a school kid after a game of soccer or little league. The slice was thin, but the width was massive. Oh the memories! We opted for the very grown-up BBQ Chicken Pizza. This large pizza set us back $20, but was delicious.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

BBQ Chicken pizzas are one of my favorite varieties. Sometimes it’s nice to have a sauce other than ordinary tomato. And look at those nice hearty chunks of Gardein chicken and pineapple.

Pizza Slice

Purgatory Pizza has free delivery for orders over $15, but I’m not sure how far they will travel. If you live in downtown, you should definitely give them a ring to find out if they will come to you. And for everyone else – their address is:

I’m here to tell you that there’s an upscale (yet casual) pizza place in West Hollywood that is serving up delicious vegan eats. This used to be the location of a Pizza Fusion (which also had some vegan eats), but is now Evo Kitchen. They have a bunch of vegan options, including three of my favorite items combined into one: bread, Daiya, and garlic. Evo’s Garlic Cheese Bread ($4.99) is basic but good. The marinara is the perfect compliment.

Garlic Cheese Bread

They also have gross meat mini burgers, but you can substitute to make them vegan. The Mini BBQ Burgers ($6.99) are made vegan with portobello mushrooms and Daiya cheese and weren’t my favorite. I liked the concept, but the execution wasn’t the best. I think the smaller pieces of mushroom made these hard to eat (the mushrooms kept falling out). The BBQ sauce was great, though – that’s why I got the next item…

And, like I said before, they create pizzas here. My vegan guy and I had to try one, so we created our own and got a Vegan Chicken and Mushroom Pizza. I liked everything about it, except the chicken. I thought the chunks were too big – next time I think I’ll just leave the pizza with veggies only.

Mushroom and Chicken Pizza

And for dessert, we (well, mainly I) got a Vegan, Gluten-Free Brownie a la mode ($6.99). I liked this brownie. It was one that sticks to your mouth, but the flavor was good and they were great about warming it up.

Brownie a la Mode

We parked at a meter on the street, but then noticed that there was a sign indicating that they have a parking lot for the restaurant behind the building. This makes it so much more convenient.

Daiya vegan cheese has really revolutionized vegan pizza. I remember when vegan pizza was just a mythical creature in childhood fables. Now, vegan pizza can be found all over the place. On a recent trip to Tennessee, it seemed vegan pizza was our only vegan option. Progress, I tell you.

zPizza is a national pizza chain that is helping spread the gospel of vegan pizza. They have a pizza called the Berkeley that is full of veggies and fake meat. I never was a fan of real meat on my pizza, so I tend to just stick to veggies – which is what my vegan guy and I did on our last trip to zPizza. We got a vegan Mushroom and Olive Pizza. The crust is a one-size fits all kind of crust: not to thick and not too thin. I like it.

Mushroom and Olive Pizza

But my vegan guy likes the fake meat, so he got a Hawaiian Pizza to eat the next day. They put a good amount of hearty-sized bits of the fake meat and look at all the pineapple. Fruit on a pizza is a great way to get your 5-a-day!

If you’re a social media addict, chances are you heard about Vegan Pizza Day that happened on June 30th. Quarrygirl had a detailed map of all the places offering specials for this food holiday. Because I had already tried some of these amazing pizzas, I went with something new. Follow Your Heart was offering a special deep dish pizza for Vegan Pizza Day. I love Follow Your Heart mozzarella cheese on pizza when it’s done right (aka- melted).

The options included two different options, so my vegan guy and I got one of each. Our favorite was the Meat Lover’s Pizza. As you can see, there were tons of melty cheese covering different types of vegan meats. My only complaint about this pizza was actually the reason I came – the deep dish. I didn’t think it was like a pizza crust at all. To me, it was almost like a really thick piece of toast: too crispy for me. My vegan guy was a fan of the crispiness, though. To each his own, I guess.

Meat Lover’s Pizza

The Margherita Pizza was the same as the Meat Lover’s – only with less flavored toppings. It still had that crispy crust and melty cheese, but was more plain only topped with just some tomatoes and basil.

Margherita Pizza

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed Vegan Pizza Day. And if you missed it, there’s always next year. But as always, most of these places have vegan pizza year-round (just without the special discounts). Make Everyday Vegan Pizza Day.

Yet another pizza place has made the brilliant decision to get Daiya and provide some vegan pizzas. When it is in the Inland Empire, this decision is especially wonderful. The more vegan options, the better!! The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe in Redlands is another one of those local favorites that have had such great success, they have expanded to a second location. People just love their crazy (meat and cheese filled) pizza pairings. I’ll tell you that even before they started carrying Daiya, I was still a huge fan of this place, too. Yes, it may have been only because of their bread, but (wow!) you have got to try their Breadsticks and marinara! Yep, I eat the whole thing. Nice and soft on the inside with a crispy seasoned crust – served with a wonderfully flavored marinara sauce ($2.99).

Breadsticks with Marinara

Of course some of you might not be enticed by just bread alone, so lucky for you, vegan pizza is an option. I love their crust! Their regular pizza sauce has dairy in it, so be sure to get it with marinara sauce instead. Top it with vegan cheese and whatever vegetable toppings you like. I got my Personal Sized Pizza with Mushrooms ($7.50) – super delicious. The Redlands place is like one of those pizza parlors from your childhood. I love it here. And when you are done, walk around the historic downtown Redlands (go on a Thursday night and the whole street is shut down for the hugely popular Market Night).

Vegan Pizza with Mushrooms

The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe has two locations (Redlands being the one I frequent):

Cruzer Pizza is an all vegan pizza shop in Los Angeles. This place used to be all meat, then switched to all vegan, and is now under new ownership and have since added even more vegan options.

While I wanted to get their Cheese Bread Sticks for a starter (they are so good!), I decided to get something new. Their Potato Skins ($5.99) sounded great, but actually weren’t that good. The Daiya and marinara were the good parts, but the potato part didn’t really taste like much.

Potato Skins with Marinara and Daiya Cheese

I love pasta – especially pasta that is more than just noodles and marinara sauce (I’m talking to you generic meat-serving restaurants). Cruzer Pizza has a plethora of vegan pasta dishes. I got their Chicken Parmigiana ($9.99): noodles, marinara, and chicken all topped with Daiya. I really liked this dish. Their marinara sauce is great and the chicken wasn’t chewy. My only problem was that it was a bit watery at the bottom. It seems like the noodles weren’t drained well enough when taken from the pot of water to the serving container.

Chicken Parmigiana

And of course we got a pizza from Cruzer Pizza. My vegan guy opted for the Hawaiian Pizza ($15.99): tomato sauce, Daiya, pineapple, and ham. I love Cruzer’s crust- not too thick and not too thin- and they always add just the right amount of toppings.

Medium Hawaiian Pizza

You can even order online instead of calling it in. Cruzer Pizza is located at:

M Cafe de Chaya specializes in macrobiotic cuisine. They are vegan with some fish selections. Somewhat recently, they started offering pizza on Saturday nights. My vegan guy and I finally went to try it out.

He ordered the pizza with tempeh bacon and avocado. I want to say that I liked this pizza, but I kind of didn’t. The bad thing about it was the crust. It was not like pizza crust – it was more bland and doughy. The toppings part was good, but the crust just killed it. Maybe it was an off day, so you should go ahead and try the pizza to see for yourself.

Pizza with Avocado and Tempeh Bacon – $11.95

I ordered the California Club with the Soba Noodle side salad (a triple-decker of savory tempeh “bacon”, lettuce, tomato, avocado, carrots, sprouts & soy-mayo on your choice of house-baked toasted sourdough or multi-grain & seed bread). For me, this club didn’t have enough filling. All of the filling was concentrated in the center and the bites at the edges were just of bread. The bread was also really chewy – tasted like a combination of not really toasted bread and day old bread. My vegan guy and I came closer to closing, so maybe we were getting the last of the pickings for the day. I don’t know what was happening. I’ve enjoyed M Cafe before (and I know other bloggers have raved about them as well). The soba noodle salad (a cold salad) was nice and tasty, though.

California Club with Soba Noodle Salad – $11.25

I also was craving some fries, so I ordered M Cafe’s sweet potato fries. I was a fan of the fries, but the sauce that came with it – Spicy Yuzu Mayo- was too spicy for me. I should have asked for plain ol’ ketchup. Next time I’ll ask when I order.

Sweet Potato Fries – $3.95

Parking is troublesome at M Cafe. There are a few spaces connected to the restaurant, but mainly you will have to find a spot on the street.

I love that Daiya has made it so easy for pizza places to add vegan pizzas to their menus. Cheezy Pizza in Colton has done this and more. They are not a totally vegan establishment, but their vegan menu is huge! In addition to vegan pizza, they have vegan appetizers, salads, calzones, and even desserts. I recently went and got some food to feast on with my family out in the Inland Empire.

First up was the garlic cheese bread and the potato wedges. The garlic cheese bread was a nice thick and soft piece of bread covered in Daiya cheese. It came with a small container of marinara sauce. The bread was delicious, but I wanted more marinara for dunking. The potato wedges were also delicious. They were perfectly seasoned and not too greasy. They came with a side of ketchup.

Garlic Cheese Bread – $4.60

Potato Wedges – $3.68

In addition to the two appetizers, I ordered two different kinds of pasta. Their pasta menu lets you choose a shape of pasta, pasta sauce, and up to four toppings. I ordered Fettucini Alfredo with vegan chicken and mushrooms. Their alfredo sauce is one of the best vegan alfredo sauces I’ve ever had. It’s super thick and creamy – I wish they jarred and sold this. The second pasta dish I ordered was the Penne Pesto with sun dried tomatoes, black olives, and mushrooms. At first I thought it looked dry – that the pasta baked too much in the oven – but it definitely wasn’t. The pesto had just the right amount of spices and oil. The topping of Daiya was also a great way to add more of a cheesy flavor to the pesto. I’d order this one again.

The two pizzas I ordered were the BBQ Chicken Pizza and the Margherita Pizza. The BBQ Chicken pizza reminded me of my favorite California Pizza Kitchen pizza back when I was an omnivore. The BBQ sauce was the best part – nice and sweet with a little bit of tang. The Margherita pizza was simple, but not lacking any flavor. The fresh tomatoes and tons of basil made this pizza so refreshing. The crust at Cheesy Pizza is a one-size-fits all – not too thick and not too thin.

BBQ Chicken Pizza – $16.56

Margherita Pizza – $13.80

In keeping with the “two of each” theme, I picked up two vegan cheesecakes for dessert. These are pre-packaged cheesecakes made by a third party. The two flavors I got were Caramel Apple and Peanut Butter. Neither of these cheesecakes were very good. They both tasted kind of dry- especially the crumbly crust. The best part of these was the dollop of frosting on the peanut butter cheesecake. This was the only really creamy part of it all.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake – $4.75

Peanut Butter Cheesecake – $4.75

They also recently started bottling their ranch dressing. I hope it makes it to the stores. It is just like the “real” thing! So thick – not runny like other vegan ranches I’ve had. I dumped this stuff like crack onto my pizzas. It’s worth the drive to Colton alone.

Creamy Ranch from Cheezy Pizza – $6.50

The biggest downer of Cheezy Pizza is that I only found out about it after I moved away from the area. Everything Cheezy Pizza makes is fantastic. A note about their vegan sauces: apparently they prepare these on Mondays. I came on Monday and got the last bit of vegan alfredo. If you are making a special trip on a Monday, I’d recommend calling ahead to make sure they have the vegan sauce that you want.

Cheezy Pizza

Cheezy Pizza is in a random area (in my opinion). The neighborhood is mostly residential and a block away from an elementary school. It has easy parking and is not too far from the freeway. There is seating inside for about 20 people.